Editing History of Eswatini (section)

== Recent history (1980s and 1990s) ==
[[Mswati III]] is the present monarch of Swaziland since his coronation in 1986, and rules together with Queen Mother [[Ntombi of Swaziland|Ntombi Tfwala]]. In 1986 [[Sotsha Dlamini]] was appointed prime minister, taking over from [[Bhekimpi Dlamini|Prince Bhekimpi]]. In 1987, following a premature dissolution of parliament by the king, Swaziland held its third parliamentary election under the [[tinkhundla]] traditional system.<ref name="EISA" /><ref name="EISA2" /> In 1988 and 1989, an underground political party, the [[People's United Democratic Movement]] (PUDEMO), criticized the king and his government, calling for 'democratic reforms'. In response to this political threat and to growing popular calls for greater accountability within government, the king and the prime minister initiated an ongoing national debate on the constitutional and political future of Swaziland. This debate produced a handful of political reforms, approved by the king, including direct and indirect voting, in [[1993 Swazi general election|the 1993 national elections]]. In this election, voters were registered, the constituencies were increased from 50 to 55 and the election was judged as free and fair.<ref name="EISA" />

The economy and the population of Swaziland continued to grow in the 1980s. The average economic growth was 3.3% annual growth between 1985 and 1993. Annual population growth was at approximately 3% during the same period.<ref name="EISA2" /> Swaziland's 1980s economy continued to be dependent on South Africa, with 90% of imports coming from South Africa and 37% of exports going to South Africa. Swaziland, along with Lesotho, Botswana and South Africa continued to be members of the Southern African Customs Union (SACU). State revenues were heavily dependent on the Customs Union's remittances which were between 48.3% and 67.1% between 1981 and 1987.<ref name="EISA2" />

The 1990s saw a rise in student and labor protests pressuring the king to introduce reforms. Thus, progress toward constitutional reforms began, culminating with the introduction of the current Swaziland constitution in 2005. This happened despite objections by political activists. The current constitution does not clearly deal with the status of political parties. The first election under the new constitution took place in 2008. Members of parliament were elected from 55 constituencies (also known as tinkhundla). These MPs served five-year terms which ended in 2013. In 2011, Swaziland suffered an economic crisis, due to reduced [[Southern African Customs Union|SACU]] receipts. This led to the government of Swaziland to request a loan from neighbouring South Africa. However, the Swazi government did not agree with the conditions of the loan, which included political reforms. During this period, there was increased pressure on the Swaziland government to carry out more reforms. Public protests by civic organizations and trade unions became more common. Improvements in SACU receipts from 2012 onwards, eased the fiscal pressure on the Swazi government. The new parliament, the second since promulgation of the constitution, was elected on 20 September 2013. This saw the reappointment of Sibusiso Dlamini, by the king, as prime minister for the third time.{{fact|date=November 2020}}

In 1989, Sotja Dlamini was dismissed from his position as prime minister on 12 July 1989 and was replaced with a former [[Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions]] (SFTU) secretary-general, [[Obed Dlamini]]. He was to be the premier until 1993 and succeeded by [[Jameson Mbilini Dlamini|Prince Mbilini]].<ref name="EISA2" /> During the tenure of both Obed and Mbilini there was growing labor militancy which culminated in a major general strike in 1997 led by the SFTU.<ref name="UPenn" /> Following the labor action, Prince Mbilini was replaced as prime minister by [[Barnabas Sibusiso Dlamini|Sibusiso Dlamini]].<ref name="News24" />

The constitution for independent Swaziland was promulgated by Britain in November 1963 under the terms of which legislative and executive councils were established. This development was opposed by the Swazi National Council (Liqoqo). Despite such opposition, elections took place and the first [[Legislative Council of Swaziland]] was constituted on 9 September 1964. Changes to the original constitution proposed by the Legislative Council were accepted by Britain and a new constitution providing for a [[House of Assembly of Swaziland|House of Assembly]] and [[Senate of Swaziland|Senate]] was drawn up. Elections under this constitution were held in 1967. Following the elections of 1973, the constitution of Swaziland was suspended by King [[Sobhuza II]] who thereafter ruled the country by decree until his death in 1982. At this point [[Sobhuza II]] had ruled Eswatini for 83 years, making him the longest ruling monarch in history. A regency followed his death, with Queen Regent [[Dzeliwe Shongwe]] being head of state until 1984 when she was removed by Liqoqo and replaced by Queen Mother [[Queen Ntombi|Ntombi Twala]]. Mswati III, the son of Ntombi, was crowned king on 25 April 1986 as King and ''[[Ngwenyama|Ingwenyama]]'' of Eswatini. In 2018, during the 50th independence day celebration, the king announced the official renaming of the country from the Anglicized Swaziland to its Siswati form ''Eswatini''.<ref name="npr_swazi_name">{{cite news |last1=Dwyer |first1=Colin |title=Swaziland Gets A Name Change: Call It eSwatini Now |url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/04/20/604000612/swaziland-gets-a-name-change-call-it-eswatini-now#:~:text=Africa's%20last%20absolute%20monarch%20has,as%20the%20Kingdom%20of%20eSwatini. |access-date=26 January 2021 |agency=NPR}}</ref> Following this, many governmental and non-governmental bodies, corporations and international organizations changed all mention of Swaziland to Eswatini.<ref name="wsj_swazi_name">{{cite news |last1=Wexler |first1=Alexandra |title=Even a King Can't Rename a Country Without Some Complications |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/even-a-king-cant-rename-a-country-without-some-complications-11558976191 |access-date=26 January 2021 |agency=Wall Street Journal}}</ref>

On 19 April 2018, King [[Mswati III]] announced that the Kingdom of Swaziland had renamed itself the Kingdom of Eswatini to mark the 50th anniversary of Swazi independence. The new name, Eswatini, means "land of the [[Swazi people|Swazis]]" in the [[Swazi language]], and was partially intended to prevent confusion with the similarly named [[Switzerland]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43821512|title=Swaziland king changes the country's name|date=19 April 2018|work=BBC News|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Kingdom of Eswatini Change Now Official|url=http://www.times.co.sz/news/118373-kingdom-of-eswatini-change-now-official.html|website=Times of Swaziland|access-date=25 May 2018|date=18 May 2018|archive-date=27 March 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190327101352/http://www.times.co.sz/news/118373-kingdom-of-eswatini-change-now-official.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>